Deady Hall - Eugene, Oregon
Posted by: 
DougK
N 44° 02.798 W 123° 04.604
10T E 493852 N 4877055
Deady Hall was the first building on the University of Oregon campus. Begun in 1873 and completed in 1876, it was the focus of all university life until the building of Villard Hall in 1886. It's current designation is a National Historic Landmark.
Waymark Code: WMFHP2
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 10/22/2012
Views: 2
For ten years
Deady Hall was the
University of Oregon's only building.
The architect of Deady Hall was William Piper. Deady Hall is simplified Italianate in design with mansarded main roof and towers. As the principal design element of the exterior, the windows have more ornamental flavor than another part of the building.
From the NRHP submission form:
Deady Hall was the first building on the University of Oregon campus. Begun in 1873 and completed in 1876, it was the focus of all university life until the building of Villard Hall in 1886. "itsdignified,-iall rec- tangular silhouette with end towers was a conspicuous feature of the com- paratively barren early campus; and its simple mansarded Italianate style was a happy choice for an academic building, later echoed in the richer details of Villard Hall.
The University opened on October 16, 1876, with an enrollment of 155 - 80 in college and 75 in preparatory. One floor only was ready for classes the first or main floor, The University faculty classrooms were on the north side; President Johnson in the northwest corner, then Professor Bailey and finally Professor Condon in the northeast corner. The Preparatory Department occupied the two rooms across the hall, with Mrs, Spiller and Miss Stone in charge. By the time of the second year, Johnson and Professors Bailey and Condon had moved to the second floor. The auditorium, on the third floor, was ready for the first commencement in June of 1878 when the first five graduates left the University.
The first building at the University had no official name until March 30 1893,when a Board of Regents meeting made the following resolution: "Whereas one of the buildings of the University of Oregon has no distinctive name by which it can be conveniently designated, therefore be it resolved that the original University building be designated 'Deady Hall' and be henceforth known by that name in honor of the late Honorable Matthew P. Deady." (Deady was a judge, and became first president of the Board of Regents aid a member of the Oregon Supreme Court Bench.)
A further omission was discovered in 1926, at the time of the planning the semi-centennial; Deady Hall had never been dedicated. The committee in charge of the semi-centennial, scheduled for October 15-23 of that year, arranged a suitable ceremony and memorial tablet. The principal address was given by Dr. Luella Clay Carson, former Professor of Rhetoric and later Deal of Women and then President of Mills College, Oakland, California.